The Thousands

It’s always a difficult task trying to categorize duo The Scrapes. ‘Psychedelic’, ‘Cinematic’, ‘Ambient’, ‘Experimental’, ‘Orchestral’, ‘Apocalyptic’ are all adjectives that the fine folks of the world wide web have used to try and pinpoint their sound.

While all of these terms encompass on some level the sonic landscape weavings of guitarist Ryan Potter and violinist Adam Cadell, there’s something deeply fruitful and fresh that can’t be categorized on their latest release Kali Yuga Sunrise. Far more rhythmic (like the sound of a hundred sewing machines in an Indian sweat shop) than The Scrapes’ 2010 release, Electric Mourning Blues, and much more mature and encapsulating, it’s almost like Ryan and Adam are creating the soundtrack to a British-Indian regimental experience rather than the tales of Brisbane.

Technically this is a perfect record. Its use of dynamics and looping completely cloud the outside world, like they’re creating a pocket of stories from the Dharavi Slums in Mumbai within each song. I’m finding it extremely hard to write a review about Kali Yuga Sunrise without delving into some sort of pretentious bullshit using forty adjectives per sentence to try and explain the world that Ryan and Adam have created within their record, but they make it pretty hard. As I said, they’re a really hard band to pin down, and now I’m starting to sympathise with others who have tried.